Trusted Financial Management

Trusted Financial Management

When you enter the mayor’s office, you will see posted our Standard of Excellence which outlines our commitment to being the most innovative and effectively managed City in the United States.

I believe that most people don’t care about big government versus small government. What people truly want is effective government. At the City of Tuscaloosa, to meet our standard, we have incorporated transparency and accountability in all that we do, especially when it comes to investing taxpayer’s dollars.

Low Sales Taxes and Debt

Because of Alabama’s outdated 1901 Constitution, municipalities rely on sales taxes as a primary source of general fund revenues. The City receives 2.57 percent of the county-wide 9 percent sales taxes. This is the lowest of any city of significant population in Alabama.

The table above illustrates that we are doing more with less. In addition to keeping our sales taxes low, we are managing our scarce resources wisely. Of the five largest cities in Alabama, Tuscaloosa had the lowest debt per capita according to PARCA’s latest annual report on municipalities. Of all cities of significant population size, the City had the 4th lowest debt, with only Hoover, Dothan and Mountain Brook finishing ahead of Tuscaloosa.

For more information of the City’s budget, below is a link to my 2018 budget overview to the City Council: https://d9hjv462jiw15.cloudfront.net/media/197773_FY2018-OperatingBudgets-MayorRec.pdf?1508516689

Opening the Doors of the City with data.tuscaloosa.com

In 2005, as a candidate for mayor, I pledged to open the doors of City Hall. 12 years later, this conviction is stronger than ever. Last year, we became the first City in Alabama to have an open data portal by launching data.tuscaloosa.com. This portal provides real-time financial information to taxpayers which allows complete access to all operational expenses. From our travel costs to our paychecks, from our utility bills to every single invoice in a $200 million budget, hundreds of thousands of transactions are available for public scrutiny.

Financial Management During Crisis

As a Fellow in Crisis Leadership at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, I have had the unique experience of sharing my experiences in Tuscaloosa and learning from others who have had to lead in the most trying of circumstances.

There is a truism in crisis leadership, to be effective you must have capital. On April 27, 2011, as a tornado destroyed 12 percent of our City, we had to spend tens of millions while maintaining general operations. With incredible ingenuity and innovation, we met this challenge without borrowing a dime or raising taxes.
In one of the surrealist moments, just days following the tornado, Moody’s and Standard & Poor required us to outline our financial plan to respond to the crisis. To provide context, we were still conducting search and rescue operations.

Outlaying hundreds of thousands of dollars daily, the rating agencies required a review of our financial plan moving forward then and into the future. Failure to demonstrate financial strength and planning would have led to our credit rating being downgraded, which was one of the highest in Alabama.

With years of responsible fiscal stewardship and an amazing team of public servants who met this incredible challenge, we demonstrated the financial and administrative means necessary to avoid the financial havoc of a credit downgrade. Although little noted in media accounts, ensuring our high credit rating was an essential factor in our amazing response and recovery.

New Covenant

As governor, I will carry with me the principles that have guided me as mayor. I believe we should protect the taxpayers’ investments. For years, Alabama has borrowed excessively to hide its inability to fund operations. Soaring debt is mortgaging the future of ourselves and our children. Further, Alabama lacks a comprehensive plan to address the digital economy. From the moment we take office, we will have transparency and accountability at the core of what we do each and every day for the people of Alabama.

#believe